Improved Holland Gin
Stir ∙ 3 min ∙ 32.6% ABV ∙
The Improved Holland Gin pairs oude genever with maraschino liqueur, sugar syrup, absinthe and bitters — an Old Fashioned variation. Malty genever backbone gives way to a faint cherry sweetness, with a whisper of anise threading through the finish and bitters adding a dry, spiced snap.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Stir all ingredients with ice: Oude genever 60 mlMaraschino liqueur 5 mlSugar syrup 5 mlAbsinthe 5 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 2 dashes
- Strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a lemon twist
Tips
- Pre-chill the coupe before straining — this stirred drink has no ice in the glass to keep it cold, so it warms fast otherwise.
- Measure the absinthe carefully; even a small excess overwhelms the genever's malt character with anise.
- Stir until well-chilled and properly diluted — genever is dense and needs a full stir to open up alongside the maraschino and bitters.
- Express the lemon twist over the glass before dropping it in; the oils lift the aromatics without adding sourness.
History
The Improved Holland Gin Cocktail belongs to a family of "Improved" drinks that Jerry Thomas set out in the 1876 second edition of his Bar-Tender's Guide, an appendix that reworked his earlier plain Brandy, Whiskey, and Gin Cocktails by adding a dash of maraschino liqueur and absinthe. The book lists it simply as the "Improved Gin Cocktail," made with Holland (genever-style) gin in place of brandy, following the same formula as the Improved Brandy Cocktail: gum syrup, bitters, a dash of absinthe, and maraschino, finished with a twist of lemon peel.
The word "improved" referred to this new style of embellishing the older, plainer cocktail format with European liqueurs rather than to any specific quality claim, and the genever-based version eventually became better known by the fuller name Improved Holland Gin Cocktail to distinguish it from versions made with brandy or whiskey. Genever, often called Holland gin or Hollands in Thomas's day, was the malty Dutch spirit that predated London dry gin and was the standard "gin" of American bartending manuals through the mid-19th century. The drink is essentially an Old Fashioned built on genever, enriched by the maraschino-absinthe combination that defined the "Improved" style bartenders were popularizing in that era.
